


Take a Nap

by Udunie



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Sort Of, White House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 11:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12364410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Udunie/pseuds/Udunie
Summary: Alexander Hamilton was having a bad day.More like a series of Bad Days, if he wanted to be honest.





	Take a Nap

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little thing for the lovely and amazing LC who didn't feel too well and lost a hairpin today! I'm sorry, hon!
> 
> Also, all my love to Emma for taking the time to help me with this! <3

Alexander Hamilton was having a bad day.

More like a series of Bad Days, if he wanted to be honest.

First, there was fucking Fox, taking every opportunity to attack President Washington since he came out firmly in favor of gay couples’ right to adopt children - it had been Alex’s idea, not like he wanted to brag… Okay, the President did agree, of course, but Alex was the one who proposed taking up the gauntlet publicly.

Anyway, that led the way to Alex having to write speech after speech defending the issue and the President having to make said speeches on top of his already fully booked schedule… And well. The White House was not a relaxing place on the best of days, and when President Washington was in a bad mood? It was a straight up slaughterhouse. It was funny how Americans thought their President was a calm, level headed guy, when in reality he could be quite terrifying when angered and sleep deprived. 

Very terrifying.

Not like the man usually had reason to direct his ire at Alex… Officially, he was a lowly Communication Aide - not like anyone would have let him anywhere near to the actual press. But, he was a damned good speech writer, if he said so himself; give him a topic and a few hours and he could whip up something to floor the media. But - as everyone in the West Wing - he also tried to be a jack of all trades, and help with whatever he could. It didn’t hurt that the he had the uncanny ability to perfectly grasp the President’s intentions in both speeches and refining policies.

Also, he fucking loved the job.

Safe to say, Alex liked to be close at hand to the President at all times.

Well, maybe except today. He already had to listen to Washington screaming Burr’s head off for not handling a Fox interview well (Alex saw that interview, and while it didn’t go perfectly, he would have punched the reporter square in the nose around the two minute mark, so he wasn’t about to throw stones). And then he listened to Lafayette of all people getting an earful.  _ Lafayette _ . Lafayette, who not only was the youngest Chief of Staff in US history, but also pretty much Washington’s adopted son. 

So yeah. He liked to be close at hand to the President, but he feared that if he stayed a moment longer he would have been unable to control his mouth and end up getting himself arrested for treason. Or worse,  _ fired _ .

Could you even get arrested for insulting the President? He would have to look into it… Some other time. Some other time, when he had more than three hours of sleep, a gigantic headache, an empty stomach and a lost hairpin to worry about.

He got that pair of hairpins from his grandma. They were his lucky hairpins, always making him feel better on hard days... Making him feel like he could stab someone - Burr, usually - at any moment if they were being too stupid. He wouldn’t, of course, but the thought was still comforting.

And now he only had one. He tried to retrace his steps - almost impossible in the chaos of the West Wing - especially since he didn’t go home to sleep and only caught a little shut-eye under Hercules’ desk sometime around 3 am. He had them yesterday. He remembered that.

He also had them in the morning when he sprayed some deodorant on himself in the bathroom to make it (if not look) but smell like he actually went home.

What did he do after that? 

Ugh, his head hurt.

He… he finished the speech for this morning around five, gave it to Burr… Then he went out to the Children’s garden!

It was his favorite place to pace. Since Washington had no family it was usually empty, and he could walk around it all he wanted, lugging around his laptop and sitting on a bench when he needed to write. 

He had to learn on his first week in the White House that people looked at people who kept talking to themselves funnily. 

But nobody cared in the garden if he was muttering to himself. He didn’t even know how people could write speeches without saying the words out loud to make sure the rhythm was right, seriously.

Anyway, he had to have lost the hairpin there. Afterwards, when he went back only to be faced with the President at his worst he could remember constantly having to adjust his bun because it kept falling apart, so it must have been gone already.

So, Alexander made his way across the grounds to the Children’s garden. Of course, - because today seemed to hate him - it started drizzling outside, making him feel cold and clammy and damp. Just what he needed.

And in the end it seemed to have been moot. 

He couldn’t find it. Alex couldn’t help remembering the little grin his grandma had when she gave those pins to him. She’d always loved that Alex let his hair grow out.

Maybe he left it somewhere else. Maybe someone picked it up? 

But he knew that wasn’t the case. He just fucking lost it, didn’t he? 

He stopped at the little square-ish pond by the benches, looking into the dark water, watching as it rippled as the raindrops grew fatter, splashing into it over and over.

God, he was so exhausted. 

And hungry. 

And it felt like his skull was coming apart. 

He didn’t know how long he stood there, gazing into the water. Honestly, he might have fallen asleep for a few seconds.

“Alexander! What the… what in god’s name are you doing?” came a voice from behind him, making him shudder. Damn, he didn’t even notice how cold he was getting.

“Uh… Hi, Mr. President,” he said, stupidly, wiping at his eyes quickly before turning around.

Washington looked like… like a character out of a movie. He was wearing a long, black coat and had an umbrella to match. His tall, broad-shouldered silhouette was stark against the sickly gray sky.

“Son, what are you doing? You are completely drenched,” the man continued, his voice growing softer. He stepped closer to share the protection of his umbrella, towering over Alex, and he couldn’t help but sway towards him a bit. Usually he was much, much better at not giving in to his brain that pretty much constantly urged him to… Yeah, no. He loved his job. He was sure that jumping the Leader of the Free World would get him fired.

Belatedly he realized he’d been asked a question.

“I… I’m looking for my hairpin,” he admitted, blinking up at Washington. God, did he have to be so tall? It really wasn’t fair.

Washington stared down at him, his eyes narrowing. Alex didn’t even have energy to protest when the man reached up to cup his face. It felt a bit like a dream. It must have been, because the President didn’t usually touch him. 

“You’re looking for your hairpin. By standing in the rain.”

Alex closed his eyes, nuzzling into that warm palm. He was probably still sleeping, so it was okay. Maybe he was still sleeping under Hercules’ desk, even. That would be even better; then he would still have his pin.

“You’ve slept under Mulligan’s desk?!” Washington asked, sounding incredulous. 

Oh. It had to be a dream then, if the President was reading his mind. Unless he said it out loud...

Washington patted his cheek lightly until Alex opened his eyes again.

“Alexander…” he sounded worried. And that made him worried too. 

“Oh! How did the speech go, sir?” 

Washington rolled his eyes.

“To hell with the speech, my boy, let’s get you inside and into a bed.”

Alex let himself be pulled down the path, his brain still feeling hazy, like he wasn’t awake, especially when Washington put an arm around his shoulder to keep him close and walking.

He looked on blearily as a pair of security guards joined them. They had umbrellas too, but didn’t try to get Alex away from the President. Good. He quite enjoyed the man’s warm, firm body beside his own. With such an unfortunate crush he had to count his blessings… One of the guards muttered something into his com.

“What time is it?” he asked, yawning. He had a lot of stuff scheduled for today, and it looked like he’d wasted quite a bit of time.

“It’s well into the afternoon, Alexander. Half of the West Wing had been looking for you for hours,” Washington said, shepherding him around a puddle.

“What?!” That was impossible. He couldn’t imagine that they would even notice his absence in that madhouse, not to mention actually look for him.

“Gilbert is a nervous wreck, and even Aaron had been worried,” the President continued. “Ah, and we have your hairpin. You stabbed an apple on my desk with it,” Washington said chuckling.

“Oh.”

_ Oh _ . Now he sort of remembered. It had been after Washington’s fight with Lafayette; Alex felt like he needed to stab something, so he did. And then he left before he could use the other pin on the President of the United States.

“Oh, indeed,” Washington said just as they came to the West Wing. Lafayette was standing in the door, looking incredibly relieved.

“Sir, you found him!” he cried, his French accent a bit more pronounced, as always when he was stressed.

The President maneuvered Alex through the doorway, but still didn’t look like he was letting him go any time soon, not even after passing his umbrella to Lafayette.

“I told you he would be in the Children’s garden... he always goes there when he needs to clear his head,” he said.

Lafayette gave the President a weird look, then turned it to Alex.

“Um. Yeah sure. We  _ all  _ knew that, of course. And you, mon ami, don’t do that again,” he said, patting Alex’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Laf, I lost track of time,” he admitted sheepishly, but apparently there was no time to chat, because Washington was already leading him away, and when the President was leading you somewhere, you didn’t have much choice, but go.

It was a tiny bit humiliating to be paraded in front of the whole West Wing like that, but it looked like the man had no intention of parting with Alexander, and in full honesty, he couldn’t find it himself to mind.

There were quite a few people who cheered when they saw him, but whatever expression was on Washington’s face, it probably didn’t invite conversation, because nobody even tried to stop them.

“Where are you taking me?” Alex asked, feeling the blood return to his fingers now that he was out of the cold.

Washington made a non-committal noise and marched on until he were in the oval office. For once nobody was inside, and for a second Alex was worried that he would get a stern talking to about disappearing in the middle of the work day, but instead Washington walked him to his private office.

Alexander haven’t been in there often; the small room was almost as intimate as the presidential bedroom, much more full of life and personality than the public spaces of the house. There was a small, surprisingly worn couch tucked into the corner with a blanket thrown over it. 

Washington must have followed Alex’s curious gaze, because he chuckled as he finally let him go, making him immediately miss the warmth of him.

“I had that brought over from my old office when I was a governor. It’s old, but never fails to give me a few hours of sleep,” he said. He hang his coat and pulled out a jumper and a pair of soft looking sweatpants from a drawer.

“Here,” he said, giving them to Alex. 

He didn’t understand what was happening.

“Um, sir?”

Washington sighed, his dark, warm eyes mapping out Alex’ face, his mouth still lined with left-over worry. It belatedly occurred to Alex that the President of the United States not only went out in the rain to look for him, but knew exactly where to find him. He could feel his face flush with the realization.

“Get changed,” Washington said, voice almost as soft as his gaze. “And for heaven’s sake, take a nap, Alexander. That’s an order.”

Alex swallowed, his fingers twitching on the clothes. Washington’s clothes.

“Yes, sir,” he said, sounding a bit rougher than what was proper.

The President smiled, walking to the door with a hint of reluctance.

“Good boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at udunie.tumblr.com
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it!


End file.
